May and July are my favorite months, and today’s perfect weather explains why. Also, it doesn’t hurt that my favorite tree grows right outside my front windows. Actually, there are a pair of May Day trees growing out front, and I can’t tell you how serendipitous it is that the house I fell in love with already had mature ones.

Today they’re in full bloom and smell heavenly (so does my house since I hacked off a bunch of branches and brought them inside). Happy May to you.

Categories: For your Home

Tagged: may day trees

Master bedroom inspiration

R. Pyper

Posted on May 8th, 2013

I think old houses take color really well, don’t you? I love white walls and modern design, but my 1937 home really requested something else.

source

So when I saw the photo above in the July/August 2012 issue of House Beautiful, I made it my goal to convince my husband that Benjamin Moore’s Mustard Olive was the color for our bedroom. And here’s how my room looks today:

I really love the depth and how it looks with black and white. And I love that it isn’t too masculine or feminine.

Categories: Historic homes

Tagged: benjamin moore mustard olive, house beautiful

Birthday cake for a boy

R. Pyper

Posted on May 2nd, 2013

Last weekend we held a birthday party for my first grader, which equaled five screaming, rough-and-tumble boys stampeding through my house and skinning their knees on my driveway. Ever since I was little, birthdays have been really bittersweet for me, but more bitter than sweet. It’s even worse now that I have kids of my own.

In preparation for his sports-themed party, I found this idea in Family Fun magazine. It’s just a two-layer cake, frosted in orange, then embellished with orange M&Ms I bought at Zurcher’s in Idaho Falls. Just FYI, I needed about eight ounces of M&Ms to cover the cake.

One of the nicest things about kids is that they don’t expect perfection, and this cake ain’t perfect. But my boy made my day when he said, “Man, I am really spoiled today.”

And now, a little Billy Collins, one of my faves:

On Turning Ten

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light–
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed. *

Categories: Family, Food

Tagged: basketball cake, birthday cake

Check out the final version of the walking tour

R. Pyper

Posted on April 29th, 2013

Several weeks back I mentioned that the College Neighborhood Association had updated its historic-home walking tour, adding four properties to the brochure, and Shannon Ansley with the association was gracious enough to share the tour brochure in advance. Well, now we’ve got the new-and-improved, final version for you to peruse. Here it is; make sure to download it to your computer for best results:

FINALNeighborhoodBrochure-1_4_29_13

Categories: Uncategorized

‘Burb appeal II

R. Pyper

Posted on April 25th, 2013

Here’s the other great house this month — I think you’ll agree it looks amazing from the street.

First, take a look at that porch. Sure, it’s on the shady side of the street, but that doesn’t diminish its charm. In the summer it’d be the perfect place for a glass of lemonade and relaxing in a rocker.

And that isn’t your run-of-the-mill front door, so it makes the entry of the home seem special. Look a little closer, and you’ll see its twin at the opposite end of the porch.

Why the house works for owners Jim and Susan Jenkins: “We’ve been in it for 24 years, we’ve redone everything (and) tried to be real sensitive to the house. The people who had it before are the ones who got it on the register, and they said, ‘This house is Pocatello’s, and we’re just taking care of it,’ and we feel the same way,” Jim said.

Categories: Feature Homes

May days

R. Pyper

Posted on May 9th, 2013

Master bedroom inspiration

R. Pyper

Posted on May 8th, 2013

Birthday cake for a boy

R. Pyper

Posted on May 2nd, 2013

On Turning Ten

Check out the final version of the walking tour

R. Pyper

Posted on April 29th, 2013

‘Burb appeal II

R. Pyper

Posted on April 25th, 2013